EcoBoost Mileage Better with Premium?
#1
EcoBoost Mileage Better with Premium?
I had a thought as my low fuel reminder light came on this morning. Since the owners manual states that regular 87 unleaded is fine, but premium 91+ unleaded yields the highest performance, would that also mean that premium unleaded will yield the best fuel economy ?
I decided to try a little experiment and filled up from empty (22 miles to empty) with Premium 93 octane to find out. As I was filling up, I was crunching the numbers in my head, and here it what I've come up with...
Regular at the Valero station was $3.70, premium was $4.00. That means that it would cost $96.20 to fill up on regular and $104.00 on premium from dead empty. That is a difference of $7.80 per tank. I then figured the break even point of fuel efficiency vs the extra cost of premium. I used my current 15.0mpg on regular unleaded as a baseline. My equation is this:
$7.80/$3.70= 2.11 (means that price difference would've afforded me an extra 2.11 gallons of regular unleaded)
2.11 gallans of regular of unleaded (x) 15mpg= 31.62 miles
31.62 miles/26 gallon tank =1.22 mpg improvement needed from premium fuel to breakeven on additional cost per gallon.
To summarize, if im getting 15mpg on regular 87 gas, then i need to get at least a 1.22mpg gain (16.22mpg) on premium to make up for higher cost per gallon. Anything over 16.22mpg would make premium gas more cost effective than regular unleaded, in which case, you're better off to continue filling up with premium.
Oh, and the added performance is a plus too!
I'll let you know my findings when i run the tank out in a few days...
Anyone already done a similar experiment?
I decided to try a little experiment and filled up from empty (22 miles to empty) with Premium 93 octane to find out. As I was filling up, I was crunching the numbers in my head, and here it what I've come up with...
Regular at the Valero station was $3.70, premium was $4.00. That means that it would cost $96.20 to fill up on regular and $104.00 on premium from dead empty. That is a difference of $7.80 per tank. I then figured the break even point of fuel efficiency vs the extra cost of premium. I used my current 15.0mpg on regular unleaded as a baseline. My equation is this:
$7.80/$3.70= 2.11 (means that price difference would've afforded me an extra 2.11 gallons of regular unleaded)
2.11 gallans of regular of unleaded (x) 15mpg= 31.62 miles
31.62 miles/26 gallon tank =1.22 mpg improvement needed from premium fuel to breakeven on additional cost per gallon.
To summarize, if im getting 15mpg on regular 87 gas, then i need to get at least a 1.22mpg gain (16.22mpg) on premium to make up for higher cost per gallon. Anything over 16.22mpg would make premium gas more cost effective than regular unleaded, in which case, you're better off to continue filling up with premium.
Oh, and the added performance is a plus too!
I'll let you know my findings when i run the tank out in a few days...
Anyone already done a similar experiment?
#2
#3
So far I've only driven a couple of miles with the premium in the tank, so no noticeable difference in performance yet... I did notice that it seemed to be a bit smoother at idle, however.
#4
Try Conoco, Chevron or Shell which are all easy to find in most TX cities. I run Conoco when in TX and I always gain 2 mpg over Shell in AR. If I use Valero in any of my vehicles; they knock, run sluggish and receive poor mileage. There are better brands of gasoline. I would run 3 tank fulls of a different brand and see what happens.
Good luck.
Good luck.
#6
#7
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#10
Ha, I got a weird one for you, I get 20 in the city and 18 on the highway. Explain that one to me, was taking the expressway but switched to the back streets because of the better mileage.
I am excited let us know how it goes. I read you gain an extra 15 HP and 15 Torq when using premium on the ecoboost, but you have to run a few tanks through it for the computer to adjust. Read it on the internet so it could all be lies but will be interesting.
I am excited let us know how it goes. I read you gain an extra 15 HP and 15 Torq when using premium on the ecoboost, but you have to run a few tanks through it for the computer to adjust. Read it on the internet so it could all be lies but will be interesting.
#11
#12
Try Conoco, Chevron or Shell which are all easy to find in most TX cities. I run Conoco when in TX and I always gain 2 mpg over Shell in AR. If I use Valero in any of my vehicles; they knock, run sluggish and receive poor mileage. There are better brands of gasoline. I would run 3 tank fulls of a different brand and see what happens.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Years ago the differences in brands were great, but due to stringent government standards and open market practices, really all gas is good and pretty much the same... That said, I'd look more at the station itself. My geologist buddy of mine does alot of work with the underground storage tanks at pump stations, and he says that many tanks are poorly designed, installed, and maintained. Bad tanks can produce excess condensation (water), deposits, and outside contamination, thus, hindering the properties of the gas.
Just my 2 cents
#13
It is 4WD with 3.55 LS rear end.
#14
#15
How fast are you driving on the freeway? And what kind of gears do you have?